In Oregon which is apparently one of the 30 states mentioned in the quote in Dan's post that has it's own rail inspectors ODOT-Rail, that cooperate with the FRA, I wonder what authority/jurisdiction State Law gives to ODOT's inspectors. I realize this could very dramatically from State to State that has a rail division of it's trasportation dept., but I am certainly curious about Oregon. It may be that the ODOT inspectors under St. Law can if they so choose, adopt as administrative rules which don't have to be approved by the legislature any portion of the Fed. CFR's they choose to enforce. In turn if they have a cooperative agreement with the FRA, the FRA may be able to assert jurisdiction within the state as long it is following the lead of ODOT Rail if it is dealing with an area that would otherwise be covered by Fed. Law.
I ain't no lawyer... I just pose these ideas rhetorically to see what others may know about the subject.
Further, I did have a conversation with an ODOT- Rail track inspector who was actually on vacation. I was running the fire patrol at SVRy and was stopped at S.Sumpter siding waiting for train time. The inspector in Bermuda shorts came walking up and flashed a very shiny badge in my face. The sun was behind me and no kidding it was really blinding. I wonder what he uses for polish, anyway he intrduced himself and I did not, thinking it better to let him do the talking. After his initial presentation, he informed me he was on vacation and just wanted to make contact. We then were cordial and I said to him, "As I understand it you and the FRA do not have juridiction over track other than std. ga. of 56.5"." He stated that this is correct except (there is always an execpt, right?) under authority they (did he mean FRA, ODOT, or both?)have to deal with saftey issues on an emergency basis and I forget the exact words, but in escence issues they see that in their opinion create a serious risk to the public. He kindly offered to do a complimentary track inspection for us at some point if we would like his input. This I passed on up the appropriate channels with his card.
My personal conclusion was that FRA/ODOT-Rail will probably assert jurisdiction if they believe there is a significant risk being posed to a significant number of people.